The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1887-10-05
Costa Rica-

sailor cpssted along the eastern shore u
Costa Riea in a bark not much bigger
than canaI-boaf. searching for F,ssssse
=" tbs. western ssa lie had . bunk hai.f
in the boss of his little vesse5. where he
o0asd rs, bis Wea-y bones and look cut
upon the world he had discovered. There
was little LEI, Of him but his viii. lie
had explonzi the wisole coast from lu-
kssan 10 Trinidad, and found il an Gn-
broken line Of eoniineDt--a contradiction
Of all his reasoning, a defiance OF all his
theories, and an impossible obstacle 70
the hopes be had cherished for thirty
years. The geography Of the New World
was clear enough in his mind. The earth
was globe there was no doubt Of il
and there must be n navigzble belt Of
water around. 20 he groped along, seek
ing the passage he felt should be there,
cruising into each river, and following
the shore-lines Of each gulf and bay In
( tineively he hovered around the narrow
. esi portion Of the continent, where was
but slender strip Of land, upbeaved by
some mighty convulsion, to shatter his
theories and defy his dreams. II was the
most pathetic picture in all history. II
nsIly. overcome by age and in6rnity. he
had TO abandon the attempt, and fearing
10 return TO Spain without something %
satisfy the avariee Of his sovereign, sur
rendered the command Of his little fleet
to his brother Bartholomew, and wePt
while the carnival OF murder and plumber
thatiwas to last three centuries. wa- be-
gun.
Among other points visited for barter
with the Indians was little haroOf IN
which were islands covered with lines.
and Columbus marked the place upon
his chart puerto de Limon.~ To-day It
is a collection Of cheap wooden houses
and bamboo huts, with wharves, ware
houses. and railroad shops, surrounded
by the most luxurious tropical vegetation
alive with birds Of gorgeous Plumage,
yenomous reptiles, and beautiful tiger
eats. Here and there about the place are
patches Of sugAr-cane and groups Of eocoa
nut trees. with the wide spreading bread
fruit that God gave tO the tropical say
ages a. He gave nee and maize 70 his
northern brother. and the slender grace-
fll rubber tree, whose frosty-eolOref mot
tied trunk looks like the neck Of \ giraffe
II scarcely casts shadow but the ba-
mana, with its long pale green plumes.
furnishes plenty Of shelter for the PALM
thatehed cabins, the naked babies that
play around them. and the half-dressed
women who seem always to be snOozing
in the sun
Surrounding the city for radius Of
threescOre miles is jungle full Of patri-
archal trees, stately and venerable, drap-
ed with long moss and slender vines that
look like the rigging Of ship. Their
limbs are covered with wonderful orchids
as bright and radiant as the plumage Of
the birds. the Espiritu Santo and other
rare plants being as plentiful a. the dai-
sizes in a New England meadow There
i another flower, elsewhere unknown.
called the ~turn-sOil," which in the
morning Is white and wax-like, resemb-
ling the camellia, but al noon has turned
TO the most vivid scarlet, and al sunset
drops of its stem. This picture il seen
from shipboard through a veil Of mist
miasInatic vapor-in which the lungs Of
men find poison, but the air-piants food
II reaches from the breasts Of the noun
tains 10 the foam-fringed shore. broken
only BY the fleecy clouds that hang low
and mOtionless in the atmosphere, a. II
they. with all the rest Of nature, had
shifted the fragrance Of the poppy and
sunk 10 sleep.
But in the mornings and the evenings,
when the air is cool, Limon is a busy
place Dwarfish engines with long trains
Of cars wind down from the interior, Ia
den with coffee and bananas. Halfna-
ked roustabouts file back and forth
across the gang-planks loading steamers
for Liverpool, New York, and New Or
leans. The coffee is allowed 70 aecumu-
late in the warehouses until the vessels
come. but the bananas must not be pick
ed till the last moment, az telegraphie
notice. the morning the steamer sails.
Trains Of ears are sent TO the side tracks
Of every plantation, and are loaded with
the half-ripe fruit still glistening with the
dew There are often a. many as fly
thousand punches on a single steamer.
representing six million bananas, but
they are 20 perishable that more than
half the cargo goes overheard before its
destination Is reached.
Along the track many plantations have
been opened in the jungle. and produce
prohfcally. Many Of the settlers are
from the United States, from the South
particularly, and II being the fashion 10
ehristen the plantations, tie traveller
finds over the entrances sign-boarfs that
bear familiar names. Over the gate-way
10 one Of the finest haeiendzs. a. they
are called, Is the inscription, Johnny
Reb's Last Ditch "a forlOrn and almost
hopeless ex-cOnfederate having drifed
there. after much buffeting BY fortune,
and taken up government land, on which
he Is now in a fair way 70 make a for